Message routing

ABSTRACT

Methods, devices, signals, and systems are provided in a message routing architecture which provides improved capabilities for integrating “digital” communication through email messages with “analog” communication through voice and/or fax or pager messages. Email can be addressed using nothing more than a standard telephone or fax number. If the registered owner of the telephone or fax number has a corresponding email address, then the invention converts the telephone or fax number to the email address for delivery and uses standard email delivery systems to deliver the message. If no conventional delivery email address is known, or if the message sender or recipient specify multiple delivery modes, then the email message content is transformed into voice, pager and/or fax content and delivered to the recipient using the telephone or fax number which was specified as the email address. Familiar telecommunications services such as call forwarding and selective call blocking can also be used with messages that originate as email. The invention also supports use of telecommunications numbers as indexes into databases which contain public key certificates, to make it unnecessary for a proposed message recipient to provide its public key expressly in advance to each particular proposed message originator.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to, and incorporates byreference, U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/123,661 filedMar. 9, 1999.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the capabilities of systems and methodswhich route messages in the form of email, live voice connections, voicerecordings, video, and faxes, and the invention relates moreparticularly to the use of existing telephone or fax numbers as emailaddresses and to attendant uses of voicemail, faxes, video, and/orsynthesized or live speech to deliver messages which originate as emailtext, voice input, video input, or otherwise, using cell phones,wireless devices, computers and/or other devices for “any-to-any”communications.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various approaches have been taken to messaging. Voice, video, and faxcommunications through telecommunications systems are well-known, as areemail communications through computer networks. Many attempts have beenmade to integrate traditional telecommunications with computer networks.

For instance, fax software allows computer users to easily convertdigital files into fax format and send faxes directly from a computer.Computer telephony software allows computer users to maintain a databaseof telephone numbers and to have their computer dial a selected numberfor subsequent voice communications. Internet telephony software allowscomputer users to transmit voice communications over the Internet asdigital packets (similar to the transmission of email messages indigital packets). Computerized advertising systems exist whichautomatically dial a sequence of telephone numbers and attempt todeliver a recorded message to each recipient.

Telecommunications systems themselves also rely heavily on computers tomanage circuits, voicemail boxes, accounting, billing, and otherfunctions. Likewise, computer networks often use the telecommunicationsinfrastructure to carry digital packets, over Internet dial-upconnections, direct modem-to-modem connections, and othertelecommunications connections.

A messaging service which is advertised and described at a jfax web siteapparently operates as follows. (Because USPTO policy prohibitsinclusion of hyperlinks in patents, the jfax web site address is notstated expressly here. However, the jfax web site address can beproduced by typing “www” followed by a period followed by “jfax”followed by a period followed by “com”. To conform with USPTO policy,other web site addresses noted below are likewise restated using“period” instead of being stated expressly.) The service providerprovides each subscriber with a special-purpose “private” telephone/faxnumber in a city specified by the subscriber. The “private” number isapparently not a number published to assist voice communications, thatis, it is not typically listed in white pages or other telephonedirectories or available through directory service. This private numbercan be used to provide subscribers with access by phone to their emailmessages. When the subscriber calls in, the subscriber's email messagesare read to the subscriber over the phone using synthesized speech afterthe system connects to the subscriber's Internet service provider.Voicemail can also be accessed using the same private phone number. Bydialing a toll-free access number and entering an access code,subscribers can apparently send email to any fax machine, reply to emailwith a voice message, and manage their messages. The provider links theunique private phone number to email in order to route the subscriber'svoicemail and faxes to email. If the subscriber has access to acomputer, then the subscriber can play voicemail on the computer'sspeakers and display faxes on the computer's screen. Subscribers mustapparently download special-purpose software to their computers in orderto access (as email message attachments) faxes or voicemail sent totheir private phone number. In short, a private telephone number can beused to access email messages which were apparently addressed usingconventional email addresses, and voice or fax messages can be convertedto email attachments.

A voicemail messaging service is also discussed in “Address Resolutionfor Voicemail Systems: X.500 Methodology”, which was obtained from theElectronic Messaging Association web site at www period ema periodcom/vpimdir/directory/method.txt. The Address Resolution document andother documents in www period ema period org/vpimdir refer to and/ordescribe a Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) specification. Thesedocuments, including Internet Engineering Task Force drafts on topicssuch as VPIM Addressing and Goals for VPIM, and papers on VoiceMessaging Directories, Multi-Media Shared Directories, and other topics,are collectively referred to herein as the “VPIM Documents” and areincorporated by this reference. The voicemail messaging systemsdescribed in the VPIM Documents would apparently operate in ways whichare consistent with the details described below.

In some cases, voicemail messages would be encoded by VPIM systems as*.wav files or otherwise encoded as digital files, and would be sent asattachments to an email message. Fax messages would likewise betransmitted as email attachments.

Various VPIM email addressing schemes are described, but they appear tobe of two types. The first addressing scheme includes addresses of theform LHS@Domain, where LHS is a telecommunications number and Domain isan Internet domain name. Examples given in the VPIM Addressing documentinclude:

-   -   1) mailbox number—for use as a private numbering plan (any        number of digits).    -   e.g. 5552722@lucent.com;    -   2) mailbox number+extension—for use as a private numbering plan        with extensions any number of digits, use of “+” as separator.    -   e.g. 5552722+111@lucent.com;    -   3) +international number—for international telephone numbers        conforming to E. 164 maximum of 15 digits.    -   e.g. +16137637582@nortelnetworks.com;    -   4) +international number+extension—for international telephone        numbers conforming to E. 164[0] maximum of 15 digits, with an        extension (e.g. behind a PBX) that has a maximum of 15 digits.    -   e.g. +17035245550+230@ema.org;

The second addressing scheme includes attribute-value pairs with specialattributes such as a VPIM attribute and/or a voice outdialing serviceselector attribute. Example pairs given in the VPIM Addressing documentinclude VPIM=6137637582 and VOICE=+3940226338.

An email to pager gateway described at www period inconnect periodcom/pager.html takes an email message and sends it to an alphanumericpager. Messages must be sent to a specially formatted address:

-   -   abc1234567@pager.inconnect.com where abc is the page provider        code (e.g. “att” for AT&T Wireless or “sky” for SkyTel) and        1234567 is the pager's PIN number.

A wide range of message routing features and capabilities have thus beenexplored before now, at least to some extent. However, known approacheshave not combined features and capabilities into an architecture whichproperly leverages the existing widespread use of telephone and faxnumbers with the capabilities of email and databases.

In particular, the jfax approach uses new, private telephone numbers toallow access to email, rather than allowing the use of existingtelephone numbers as email addresses. The VPIM approach does useexisting phone and fax numbers in email addresses, but it imposes anawkward addressing syntax on message originators. VPIM is alsoapparently directed toward the use of email systems to carry voicemailrecordings, as opposed to using phone and fax numbers to identify emaildestinations. Accordingly, it would be an advancement in the art toprovide an improved architecture for routing messages using the enormousexisting body of telecommunications numbers and features, includingpay-per-use features and options.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To illustrate the manner in which the advantages and features of theinvention are obtained, a more particular description of the inventionwill be given with reference to the attached drawings. These drawingsonly illustrate selected aspects of the invention and thus do not limitthe invention's scope. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a network of computers and otherdevices which are individually and collectively among the many systemssuitable for use with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a first portion of a flowchart illustrating methods of thepresent invention, with data structure annotations.

FIG. 2A is a continuation of the flowchart begun in FIG. 2, illustratingmethods of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating systems of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a signal according to the presentinvention for using telephone numbers to route email messages.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention relates to methods, systems, signals, andconfigured storage media for message routing. The invention allowsmessage originators to use telephone and fax numbers as email and/or webaddresses. In particular, the invention supports use of publicly listedphone or fax numbers as email addresses without company or similardomain names as apparently required by the VPIM approach. The telephoneand fax number addresses (which may include area codes, extensions, andthe like) are converted by the system into IP addresses, Ethernetaddresses, username-domain name addresses, attribute-value pairs, and/orother conventional email addresses or addressing indexes.

System Overview

FIG. 1 gives an overview of a system 100 according to the invention. Theemail 102 itself is carried over one or more networks 106 to thedestination(s) indicated by the email's address. The term “email”includes text generated using a computer and an email program, such asMicrosoft Outlook, QualComm Eudora, Microsoft Hotmail, and so on, aswell as text generated using handheld devices, whether wired orwireless. The term “email” also includes attachments obtained byconverting live video or voice phone messages and/or voicemail messagesthrough inventive and/or known methods. Likewise, a fax message sent toa fax number can be considered an email 102 message if it uses thesystems and methods of this invention.

As used here, “network” includes computer networks such as local areanetworks, wide area networks, metropolitan area networks, wirelessnetworks, and/or various “Internet” networks such as the World Wide Web,a private Internet, a secure Internet, a value-added network, a virtualprivate network, an extranet, or an intranet. Such computer networks mayform part of a telecommunications network and/or interface with atelecommunications network. Signal lines 108 used to carry, store,and/or deliver messages according to the invention may include twistedpair, optical fiber cables, coaxial cable, telephone lines, satellites,radio waves, microwave relays, modulated AC power lines, and other datatransmission “wires” known to those of skill in the art. Methods such asTDMA, CDMA, FDMA, and other encoding and/or multiplexing methods may beused, as well as GSM, PDC, Wireless Application Protocol, and othertechnologies and protocols. Signals according to the invention may beembodied in such “wires” and/or in addressable storage media (volatileand/or nonvolatile). Note that the term “wire” as used herein thusrefers to both wired and wireless communications.

The email 102 is delivered in one or more of the following ways: assynthesized speech created by reading that email text into a voicemailbox 110 or to a live recipient who answers a phone 112 associatedwith a phone number that was used as an email address; as speech or texttranslated by a computer or a person from one natural language (e.g.,English, French, Chinese, etc.) into one or more other naturallanguages; as “live speech” created by an operator or human person otherthan the message originator who is reading the email text out loud,either in real time or as a delayed message, e.g., to voicemail or ananswering machine 110; as text email 114, possibly with files attachedby the message originator using a desktop computer 116, or anothercomputing device such as a handheld computer, mobile phone, or otherwireless appliance; as a video stream to a computer and/or othervideo-capable device; as a fax created by converting the email intoconventional fax format for delivery to a fax machine 118 whose faxnumber was used as an email address or addressing index; and/or as apager message created by converting the email into pager format fordelivery to a pager 120 whose pager number was used as an email addressor addressing index. Natural language translation may be performedmanually or automatically in connection with text-to-speech and/orspeech-to-text transformations of the message.

Telecommunications Numbers

The telephone (land or mobile), fax, and/or pager numbers which are usedas email addresses or addressing indexes according to the invention arereferred to collectively as “telecommunications numbers”.Telecommunications numbers are normally used to call, fax, and/or pagepeople. Examples are found in standard telephone directories (includingwhite pages, yellow pages, blue pages, online directories, toll-freedirectories, and the like), Rolodexes, and on business cards. They aregenerally publicly listed, but they may include unlisted numbers if thetelephone customer consents to their use. Telecommunications numbers mayinclude the digits 0 through 9, and in some cases may also includecommonly used characters such as +, −, (,), /, #, *, or comma.Telecommunications numbers do not typically include alphabeticcharacters (except to the extent they substitute for numbers, as occursin many toll-free business numbers), or nonprintable characters.Telecommunications numbers may be personal or business numbers, andinclude without limitation 800-numbers and other toll-free numbers,900-numbers, and numbers for mobile phones. They may be of variouslengths, including without limitation ten-digit North American numbers,contemplated twelve-digit numbers, lengths used in other locales, and/or“unique” personal messaging identifiers.

In practicing the invention, the telecommunications number may replacean entire conventional email address username@domain or web addresswww.website.com, or it may replace most of that address. For instance,in some embodiments the email is addressed using the telephone or faxnumber alone, as in “1234567” or “123-4567” for a local number or“123-456-7890” for a long distance number.

For instance, a sample message 102 might resemble this one:

-   -   To: 555-1234    -   From: Mike    -   Subject: Status?    -   CC:    -   How's it coming?

In some embodiments, the telephone or fax number replaces the domain, asin examples such as “@1234567”, “@1234567.com”, “@1234567. org”, or“@1234567.net” for a local number, or “@1234567890”, “@1234567890.org”,and so on for a long distance number. The latter approach effectivelyassociates a domain name or a web site with each telephone number.Appropriate integration between domain name directories, availabledomain name and IP addresses, and advancements in IP addressing arepossible. For instance, these individual telecommunications numberdomain names could be registered, looked up, converted to IP addresses,and otherwise managed with the existing infrastructure in a mannersimilar to that now done for conventional domain names (which do notcorrespond to telecommunications numbers). For instance, this could beaccomplished using Internet browsers as an interface. It could also usemappings such as the mapping between keywords and Internet locationsprovided through RealNames Corporation, for example.

Thus, another message 102 is addressed like this one:

-   -   To: 555 4567    -   From: 555-1234<Bob>    -   Subject: Status?    -   CC: @11115552222.com    -   Mike would like a status update. Please call me.        Telecommunications Systems

Telecommunications numbers which are provided by a message originator asan email address (“email address” also includes web addresses hereafter,unless indicated otherwise) are converted 104 to conventional emailaddresses by performing with a search engine/database managementsystem/similar software 122 a lookup in a database 124. The database 124may be built on-the-fly by individual message originators, messagerecipients, and/or by their employers, Internet service providers,and/or telecommunications service providers, for instance. The database124 may be a simple text file or other file maintained by a client emailprogram 122 or web browser 122, or it may be a complex relational orhierarchical object-oriented database 124 maintained by a corporation,individual, non-profit, or government agency, for instance. Suitabledatabases 124 may be implemented using database software 122 fromNovell, Oracle, or other vendors; as noted, conventional Domain NameSystem software 124 may also be used according to the invention.Suitable database interface software and/or other software forimplementing the invention is also readily provided by those of skill inthe art using the teachings presented here and programming languages,tools, and standards such as Java, Jini (mark of Sun), Pascal, C++, C,CGI, Perl, SQL, X.500, DB2 (mark of IBM), ODBC, LDAP, NDS (mark ofNovell), APIs, SDKs, ASICs, FPGAs, assembly, firmware, and microcode. Inparticular and without limiting the foregoing, the invention could beimplemented as code embedded in the operating system and/or “burnedinto” a chip or chipset in a handheld communications device.

Providing Access to the Invention

To the extent that client software is required, it could be provided ona disk or CD sent by regional Bell operating companies or otherentities, or it could be downloaded from a web site. A registrationmessage could provide the web site with the registrant's phone number invarious ways. In particular, registration might be initiated by sendingthe web site an email address specifying the registrant's telephonenumber in an address field; this may be contingent on prior biometricauthentication or prior automatic number identification (ANI). Necessarysoftware such as email software or browser software could also beprovided on free PCs, which are being made increasingly available as theprice of computers falls. A “black box” located between a modem and thetelephone wall jack or other phone jack could also be used to divertmessages into a system 100 which correlates telephone numbers with emailaddresses, public keys, and/or other data according to the presentinvention. The “black box” could also be implemented in email softwareor browser software, and could link to a search mechanism such as theRealNames.com technology for mapping keywords to web addresses. Asimilar “black box” signal interception could be performed for wirelesscommunications. A “black box” approach does not necessarily require useof a domain name or the separator “@” in novel email addresses providedby the message originator. One might also divert messages throughhandshakes with large ISPs such as AOL and TCI.

Call forwarding could also be used to divert messages into a messagingsystem according to the invention. Such forwarding would need to beauthorized by the telecommunications subscriber, and could be performedby the telecommunications provider, or by the subscriber, or on aper-use basis. This approach does not necessarily require use of adomain name or “@” separator in novel email addresses provided by themessage originator.

Extending Existing Telecommunication Services

By accessing standard telecommunications databases and/or equipment,features and services (such as so-called “class services”) already usedwith voice or fax communications may also be provided to email messagingin a system 100 according to the present invention. For instance,suppose a communication is addressed to a first telecommunicationsnumber which the telecommunications provider is currently forwarding toa second telecommunications number. Conventionally, only voice or analogcommunications would be forwarded. But the invention permits emailcommunications 102 which are addressed to the first telecommunicationsnumber to likewise be forwarded, for delivery to the email addressassociated with the second telecommunications number and/or for deliveryas a voice, video, fax, and/or pager communication to the secondtelecommunications number (possibly via synthesized or live speech, orconversion to fax format).

Call blocking could also be used according to the present invention. Forinstance, suppose party A does not wish to receive email, voicemail, orfaxes from party B. Conventional telecommunications call blockingservices will only block incoming voice or fax messages from numberswhich are known to be associated with party B. But that blocking servicecan be extended using the present invention. When B's telecommunicationsnumber is used as an email addresses, mail which comes from that numberis also blocked from reception by party A. When conventional emailaddresses are used by party B, email which comes from an email addressthat corresponds to the telephone number of party B is also blocked.

Other examples of existing telephone company or regional Bell operatingcompany features that could be used in novel ways according to thepresent invention include: multiple line call waiting/ID; anonymous callrejection; blocked call rejection; call curfew; call detector; callrejection; custom ringing; long distance alert; message waitingindicator/notification; pagers; priority call; remote access forwarding;scheduled forwarding; selective call forwarding; and calling cards. Theinvention may interface with existing databases and programs of one ormore telephone companies, regional Bell operating companies, wirelesscommunication service providers, and/or unified messaging serviceproviders to fully utilize any or all existing or future analog/voiceservices and features. The invention could also increase use ofdirectory (standard and reverse) assistance and voicemail.

Configured Storage Media

Computers which provide message originators with email software and/orcomputers which manage the database of telecommunications numbers andemail addresses are generally capable of using a floppy drive, tapedrive, optical drive, magneto-optical drive, or other means to read astorage medium. A suitable storage medium includes a magnetic, optical,or other computer-readable storage device having a specific physicalconfiguration. Suitable storage devices include floppy disks, harddisks, tape, CD-ROMs, PROMs, random access memory, and other computersystem storage devices. The physical configuration represents data andinstructions which cause the computer system to operate in a specificand predefined manner as described herein. Thus, the medium tangiblyembodies a program, functions, and/or instructions that are executableby computer(s) (including servers, routers, desktops, handhelds, andother devices) to recognize telecommunications numbers as emailaddresses and route email messages for delivery, substantially asdescribed herein.

VPIM and the Invention

There are apparently at least two important differences between theapproach described in the VPIM Documents and the present invention.First, no reference has yet been found in the VPIM Documents to the useof a telecommunications number as an email address or other addressingindex without either a corresponding conventional domain name or thebulky and inconvenient attribute-value pair syntax. By contrast,embodiments of the invention allow message originators to use a simpletelecommunications number as an email address or other addressing indexin place of some or all of the conventional domain name and/or in placeof some or all of the conventional username and domain name. Althoughaddress syntaxes like those described in the VPIM Documents might beused internally by the invention, they are not imposed on messageoriginators.

Second, VPIM appears to be primarily concerned with delivery ofvoicemail. That is, messages originate as voicemail, message content maybe transported as email, and message content is ultimately delivered asa recording of the original message. By contrast, messages routed by theinvention originate as voice messages, as email text, or as faxes, andmessage content may be ultimately delivered as email text, assynthesized or live speech, as a fax, to a pager, or as some combinationof these delivery modes.

Public Keys

The invention also includes tools and techniques for using telephone orother telecommunications numbers as identifiers for public keycertificates. For instance, in one system, an email message originatorcreates an email message 102 which is addressed to a recipient whosepublic key is on file with the telecommunications provider, ISP, orother entity linked to the inventive system. Instead of arranging withthe recipient for a public key exchange or presentation throughpreliminary email, the message originator simply provides the inventivesystem with the message recipient's telecommunications number. Thesystem then looks up the recipient's public key in an appropriatedatabase, such as an X.509 database, obtains the public key, and usesthe recipient's public key to encrypt the email message or other data.The same system that obtained and used the public key could then providethe encrypted message to an otherwise conventional email delivery systemor to a novel email delivery system. That is, use of atelecommunications number to obtain a public key may be combined withuse of a telecommunications number as an email address or addressingindex, or either use may be performed independently of the other.

Methods

The invention may be embodied in one or more methods, systems, signals,and/or configured storage media. Those of skill in the art will applythe teachings provided here to various embodiments as appropriate. Inparticular, unless clearly indicated otherwise the discussion herein ofany particular type of embodiment (methods, systems, configured storagemedia, signals) also applies to the other embodiment types.

Some methods of the invention are illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 2A. Duringan email message receiving step 200 at least one email message 102 isreceived. The email may be received by any conventional method, such asusing a standard protocol such as TCP/IP, UUCP, SMTP, and so on. Theemail may also be received using inventive methods as described herein.The email 102 received includes or otherwise specifies a destinationaddress, as indicated by structural annotation 204. (For convenience,“include” will be understood hereafter to mean “include or otherwisespecify, e.g., by a pointer or link”.) The destination address 204itself may appear in many forms, but in embodiments that replace some orall of a conventional address as discussed above it must include atelecommunications number 206. The telecommunications number 206 mayoccur in many forms, both existing and inventive. For example, thetelecommunications number 206 may be a standard North American NumberingPlan telephone number, such as those used in the United States,consisting of a three-digit area code, three-digit prefix, andfour-digit line number, or it may include just the prefix and the linenumber, or it may also contain a international prefix. Thetelecommunications number 206 may follow some other format, such as theeight-digit local Australian format, the two-digit Australian area codefollowed by the eight-digit local Australian format, and so on.

The telecommunications number 206 may also be of various types. Forexample, the number might connect to a voice line 208 (including a landline or a mobile/wireless “line”), a pager line 210, a fax line 212, oran internet dialup line 214 or other modem line. The line, of whatevertype, may be call-forwarded 216, so that the original telecommunicationsnumber is routed to another number, or subject to other servicesidentified above. The call-forwarded line 216 may be call-forwardeditself, and so on. The voice line 208 may be used for live voicecommunications, for voicemail communications, or both. The sametelecommunications number phone line might be used at different timesfor one or more of live voice, voicemail, fax and/or internetconnections.

The line will generally be publicly listed 218, but may be aprivate/unlisted number, that is, it may not be available throughdirectory assistance. It may be a toll-free (e.g., 800- or 888-) number.If publicly listed, the telecommunications number section of the emaildestination address may be obtained through directory assistance, bylooking it up in a paper or electronic phone book, by searching for iton the internet, or by some other public method.

Conventional email address format resemblesusername@domainname.extension. The telecommunications number 206 may bethe domain name field of the internet address such that the addresstakes the form username@5551111, where “username” stands for a string ofalphanumeric characters, and 5551111 stands for a telecommunicationsnumber. The 7-digit phone number was used in the example simply asshorthand for all possible telecommunications numbers, so an eight-digitAustralian local number or a ten-digit North American Numbering PlanNumber would each be valid.

The mail message 102 will also generally include an origin address 220.This address 220 may be a conventional email address, or it may us atelecommunications number according to the present invention asdiscussed for destination addresses 204, with the stated difference thatthe origin address 220 identifies the message originator rather than themessage recipient.

The email may contain message content 222, but will not necessarilycontain such content, any more than conventional email messages containcontent. If message content 222 is present it may be found in a subjectfield 224, in one or more attached files 226, in a message field 228, orin some other location known to those of skill in the art. The messagemay be text, which may include a pager message, a live voice, avoicemail message, a video, an audio file message, or some other formatknown to those of skill in the art. The message itself may be in avariety of formats, such as Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions format(MIME format) 230 or other known or inventive format. The email may beencrypted and/or digitally signed.

A conversion attempting step 232 attempts to transform thetelecommunications number 206 and the destination address 204 into anemail address or other addressing index that permits delivery of themessage, such as a conventional email address, IP address, or the like.If an email address permitting delivery is not obtained then the messagecan be delivered by voice (synthesizing text to speech if necessary) tothe telecommunications number 206 given in the destination address. Themessage can then be delivered to a live voice line (including a landline or a mobile/wireless “line”), a voicemail box line, a fax line, apager line, or an inventive type of phone line.

Methods to modify the telecommunications number into an addressing indexfor delivery include, but are not limited to, looking up the emailaddress 204 on a client machine 238, on an email server machine 240,and/or on an email gateway 242 using the telecommunications number as anindex (or a pointer) into the stored email addresses, using database andother lookup methods known to those of skill in the art. Thetelecommunications number 206 can be used as an index into a database ofpublic keys to obtain a public key corresponding to thetelecommunications number.

In one embodiment, the telecommunications number 206 is call-forwarded244 to a separate location. At this new location, the system 100 againattempts to obtain a conventional email address permitting delivery ofthe message as email. One method of obtaining the delivery email addressis to use the first telecommunications number 206 as an index into adatabase which can be accessed using the call-forwarded number. Onceaccess to the database is gained, the original telecommunications number206 can be used as a pointer to the delivery email address within thedatabase. If a delivery email address can be obtained, the message issent using that address. In some cases, if no address can be located,the message can be sent to the destination phone number as voicemail,fax, and so on.

The delivery email address obtained during step 232 may take variousforms. For instance, it can include conventional attribute-value pairs236, such as those described above in connection with the VPIMDocuments. In some embodiments of the invention, the username and thedomain name of the delivery email address are restricted to alphanumericcharacters 234.

A delivery mode selecting step 246 determines preferences for how theemail message content will be delivered. The choices include sending avoice message 248; sending an email text message 252, which may includeone or more attached files, an audio file, a video file, and so on;sending message content to a pager 250; and/or sending it to a faxmachine 254. One of these delivery modes, several of them, or all ofthem may be selected and/or used by default for a given message, a givenmessage originator, a given message recipient, and/or a given messagedestination. If no delivery email address is obtained in the attemptingstep 232, then the message may be automatically routed to thedestination telecommunications number using delivery modes other thanemail, thereby ensuring that the message is sent. In some embodiments,if no delivery email address is obtained, the message is sent using allpossible remaining delivery modes during step 246.

A message advancing step 256 modifies the message, if necessary, intothe appropriate form (or forms) selected for delivery. For example, ifthe message was originally text but voice 248 was selected as one of thedelivery modes, then speech will be synthesized 258 from the text. Iffax delivery 254 was selected, then an appropriate fax document will becreated 260. If pager 250 delivery was selected then a pager messagewill be generated by step 256. If the message was originally speech buttext is selected 110 then the speech is transcribed using familiarspeech recognition tools. Other combinations not listed as specificexamples are also allowable.

Once the message has been put into the appropriate form (or forms), itis “delivered” during a delivering step 262. Delivery here does not meanthat the recipient necessarily receives the message in the sense ofopening and reading or hearing it, but rather means that the message issent to a location accessible to the recipient. The message can be sentat least as text 264, as synthesized speech 266, and/or as a live voicemessage 268.

Variations are possible with text messages. A message being delivered toan email recipient 270 is delivered in a different manner than a messagebeing sent to a fax machine 274, as is known by those of skill in theart. Similarly, a message being delivered to a voice mailbox 276 willneed to be delivered in voice form and if the message was originallyreceived as text, then the appropriate format modification must be made.If a message is being sent to a call-forwarded number 278, the emailmessage content in whatever form may be sent to a recipient at thesecond telecommunications number. This recipient may be a live person, avoice mailbox (for a fixed-location or a mobile phone or device), anemail box, a pager, or a fax machine, for instance.

At the other end, because the email message may be sent over a regularphone line, familiar telecommunications services such as callforwarding, selective call blocking, call waiting, caller ID, and so on,can all be used to modify delivery 262 of the email messages.

In a responding to message step 282 in some instances of the invention,the recipient responds to the previously-received message by using theorigin address 220 (which may contain a telecommunications number) asthe new destination address.

FIGS. 2 and 2A are meant to assist an understanding of the presentinvention, not to summarize every aspect of the invention or even everymethod or structure. The invention is defined by the claims, in view ofthe entire specification, not merely FIGS. 2 and 2A. In particular,steps may be repeated, as when a message is delivered several times tothe same address during the deliver message step 262. Steps may also beomitted. For example, the respond to message step 282 is optional. Stepsmay also be reordered or done concurrently, unless one step requires theresult of a previous step. Moreover, steps may be grouped differently orrenamed. Some or all of these variations may be present in anembodiment, regardless of whether they are expressly described or shownas optional outside the claims.

Systems

A system 300 according to the invention is further illustrated in FIG.3. An email receiver 300 receives email messages, such as thosediscussed in conjunction with FIGS. 1 and 2. The email message 102contains a destination address 204 and optional message content 222. Thedestination address includes a telecommunications number 206. The emailreceiver 300 may include a client email program 302 (such as QualCommEudora or Microsoft Outlook software) running on a client machine, agroupware program 304 (such as Novell GroupWise or Lotus software)running on a client machine, web browser software (e.g., a Microsoft orNetscape browser) for accessing an Internet email site, or some otherknown email receiving program, including email server software on aserver computer.

An optional telecommunications number detector 306 intercepts the email.It may be intercepted before the message leaves a computer, at a “packetsniffer” level associated with a network gateway, or somewhere else.

As noted above, one embodiment of the invention uses a “black box”attached to the email telecommunications line as the detector 306. The“black box” includes a packet sniffer to notice when an email messagehas been sent; such sniffers are known in the art for uses outside thepresent invention's scope. The “black box” examines the email address.If it determines that the address does not contain a telecommunicationsnumber, the message passes through as if the detector had not beenpresent, except possibly for a very small delay. If a telecommunicationsaddress is found in the address, the message is then diverted by adiverter 308. The diversion may send all addresses to a predeterminedlocation at which an address matcher 310 resides, or the diverter 308may choose a location to send the message to depending on the specifictelecommunications number within the address. Diverters 308 may usefamiliar technology from computer and/or telecommunications (wired orwireless) network switches, routers, and the like.

The address matcher 310 in may be embodied within the number detector306, and will be separate in other instances. The address matcher 310matches the telecommunications number 206 with an email address fordelivery. One inventive system uses a database 312 to provide acorrespondence between telecommunications numbers 206 and theirrespective delivery email addresses. The database may be located on aclient machine, a server machine, an email gateway, a web site, withinthe telecommunications number detector 306, or at some other location.

The delivery email addresses in some instantiations do not themselvescontain a telecommunications number. Through call forwarding under theinvention, one telecommunications number email address may lead toanother telecommunications number email address. But the ultimatedelivery email address for a given message may be a conventional addresssuch as a “username@domain” alphanumeric address, a VPIM-type address,an IP address, or the like.

The database 312 may be maintained on a client machine that is enteredusing call-forwarding from a telecommunications number given in thedestination address. Alternately or in addition, some or all of thedatabase may be maintained by the regional telephone company,competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), incumbent local exchangecarrier (ILEC), or other entity. An X.500 database 314 and/or an X.509database 316 may be used. If the database 312 contains public keycertificates, by using the telecommunications numbers as indexes (e.g.,pointers) into the stored information, those of skill in the art canimplement a system where it is unnecessary for a proposed messagerecipient to provide its public key expressly in advance to eachparticular proposed message originator.

The email may be delivered in many forms, as already discussed inconnection with FIG. 2A, for instance. Different types of delivery canbe specified using configuration flags 320, with a separate flag beingused for each separate delivery type, such as email delivery 322(possibly including wireless delivery), voice delivery 324 (possiblyincluding wireless delivery), fax delivery 326, and pager delivery 328.Special configuration flags can also be used to indicate that deliveryshould be attempted multiple times until a delivery confirmation 330 hasbeen received. Other flags can be constructed so that if an emailaddress cannot be obtained then another type of delivery, such asvoicemail, can be attempted. Some flags may indicate both email messagedelivery and voice mail delivery. The configuration flags can specifythat email delivery, voice delivery, pager delivery, and fax deliveryshould all be attempted for a given message, or for each message.Similarly, the configuration flags can be set such that the deliverytypes are ranked (such as first try email, then voice, then pager, thenfax) with each specific type tried until a delivery confirmation isreceived. Flags 320 may be implemented using bitflags, enumerations,arrays, lists, and/or other data structures.

In some instantiations of this invention, the configuration flags 320may be set dynamically based on algorithms and/or rules that take intoaccount the sender, the urgency of the message, its content, whether ornot it was solicited, whether or not it refers to other messages, thedate and time at which it is to be received, the length of the message,other recipients to whom the message was also sent, how the recipienthas dealt with this type of message in the past, and/or otherinformation available to the algorithm and/or rule. Such dynamicconfiguration may be used to reflect the recipient's selection of themeans of message delivery. For example, a voice call from a babysitterto a recipient while the recipient is at a concert could bring up amessage on the recipient's vibrating pager to that effect, while othercalls simply go to the recipient's voicemail.

In some instantiations of the present invention, algorithms or ruleswritten in Java or other portable languages may be included explicitlyor by reference by the message sender and may interact or negotiate withthe algorithms and/or rules specified by the recipient. In each case, anobjective is to optimize the means of notification, with the recipientplaying a major role instead of allowing the sender to primarily orsolely determine the delivery mode(s) used.

Once the modes of delivery are determined, the specific email messagecan be manipulated appropriately using a deliverer 332. If the messagewas received as text and is to be sent as voice, then the text is runthrough a speech synthesizer. Likewise, an email whose message contentis voice and is to be delivered by a text means, such as email delivery322, fax delivery 326, and possibly pager delivery 328, will have thetext converted to speech using a speech-to-text generator 338. Speechgeneration and speech recognition software are known for use intelecommunications outside the scope of the present invention.

An email sender 340 lets a user send the email, to be subsequentlyreceived by an email receiver 300. The inventive system allows the emailto be initially sent using a messaging service telecommunications number342, which is not to be confused with the recipient's number 206. Themessaging service number 342 can be a toll-free number 344, such as an800 or 888 number, or it can be a 900 number, or it can be a regulartoll call. To use the messaging service, the message originator dialsthe number 342, speaks the message content 222, and speaks or otherwiseprovides the recipient's telephone number 206. Thus, the messagingservice is a substitute for, or a supplement to, message originationtools such as computers running email programs. The destination address206 can be specified using a conventional telecommunications number,(for example, the recipient's conventional telephone number) with theaddress matcher 310 then locating the corresponding delivery emailaddress.

FIG. 3 is meant to assist an understanding of the present invention, notto summarize every aspect of the invention or even every system. Thesystems of the invention are defined by the claims, in view of theentire specification, not merely by FIG. 3. Systems may have more orfewer individual components than are shown in the illustration. Forinstance, a single system may have more or fewer configuration flagsthan are illustrated. Likewise, the sender 334 may include more than amessaging service.

An illustrated system component may also be omitted. For example, theX.500 database need not be present in every implementation. Moreover,system components may be grouped differently or renamed. Thesevariations may be present in an embodiment regardless of whether theyare expressly described or shown as optional outside of the claims.

Signals

FIG. 4 illustrates a signal according to the invention. The signal 400may be embodied in a computer system, memory, storage, in a separateconfigured program storage medium, and/or in a communication link suchas a network signal line or other “wire”, including without limitationwireless communications equipment and methodologies. The signal may beused in sending email messages using a telecommunications number as aportion or all of the destination address according to the presentinvention.

The illustrated signal includes an email message 402 that contains atleast one telecommunications number 404, 206 as a portion of the emailaddress, or as the whole email address, as discussed previously.Optionally, the signal 400 may also contain an origin telecommunicationsnumber 406. The email message 402 may contain message content 220distinct from the separate origin and destination telecommunicationnumbers. The message content may include a voice message, a videomessage, a text message, or content in another form known to those ofskill in the art.

The illustrated signal 400 may also contain one or more configurationflags 408. The configuration flags 408 can be flags 320 used to indicatemessage delivery format. The flags 408 may also specify encryption,multiple delivery attempts, staggered delivery attempts using differentdelivery modes, delivery confirmation, specification of dynamically setrecipient preferences, and the like. Digital certificates and/or digitalsignatures can be used for authentication.

The signal 400 components are not necessarily stored contiguous to oneanother, or even in the same medium, although each necessarily residessomewhere in the system 300 and the components all exist at the time inquestion. FIG. 4 is meant to assist an understanding of the presentinvention, not to summarize every aspect of the invention or even everysignal. The methods, signals, systems, and configured storage media ofthe invention are defined by the claims, in view of the entirespecification, not merely by FIG. 4. Signal components may be repeated;for example, several configuration flags 408 may be associated with asingle signal 400. Signal components may also be omitted. For instance,one embodiment of the invention does not store an origintelecommunications number 406 within the signal 400. Signal componentsmay be stored in different orders or arrangements than that shown, andmay be associated to form the signal by being stored together and/or bylinks such as pointers or table indices. Moreover, signal components maybe grouped differently or renamed. These variations may be present in anembodiment regardless of whether they are expressly described or shownas optional outside the claims.

Additional Encryption Information

A basic concept of the invention, from an encryption-oriented point ofview, is to use a person's telephone number as a “pointer” to asymmetric or asymmetric set of keys that enable encryption techniques tobe employed within the system. The key management architecture providesthe following characteristics:

-   -   1. Key generation or keypair generation is performed during        and/or prior to registration.    -   2. Keys have a “public” component. This can be accomplished        using asymmetric technologies (e.g. RPK, RSA, ECC, DH, El Gamal,        and etc.) or symmetric technologies (e.g. split knowledge,        shared secret, and etc.)    -   3. Key agreement/derivation occur without “real-time”        negotiation or a-priori public key exchanges between the message        recipient and the message sender.    -   4. Each encryption uses a unique “session” key or is encrypted        in the public key of the recipient.        Key Generation

Keys should be generated during and/or prior to registration. Thepublic/private keypair can be generated either “on-line or off-line.”On-line refers to the generation of keypairs, via either installedsoftware on the registrant's local machine or software running at theprovider's site, prior to the termination of the registrationconnection. Off-line refers to the generation of keypairs via eitherinstalled software on the registrant's local machine or software runningat the provider's site, after the termination of the registrationconnection. The resulting keypairs are then sent to the registrant.

A Possible Scenario

During registration, information is collected from the individual sothat required fields, for example, X.509 fields such as distinguishedname, can be filled in. The actual generation of the keypairs andresulting X.509 certificate can be created using “in-system”capabilities or outsourced to commercially available CertificateAuthorities. The individual's telephone number can be used as the X.509certificate's “serial number”. The serial number is part of the “signed”data of the certificate and therefore provides “binding”. “Extensions”to the serial number can be employed to provide multiple identities fora given telephone number. These “extensions” can take the form ofnumeric values (e.g. 001–999, actual telephone extensions, and etc.),alphabetic characters (e.g. name, initials, and etc.), or a combinationthereof. Adding a “citizenship code” as part of the serial number can,as a result of export restrictions, be used to determine the symmetrickey length. Examples:

-   -   7194953104_(—)001_(—)US    -   7194953104_(—)Walt_(—)US

Certain asymmetric technologies (RPK) provide fast and easy encryptionof data regardless of the size of the data compared to the “modulus”length. If this technology is implemented, the need for additionalsymmetric key enablers is not required. If this type of asymmetrictechnology is not implemented, then a symmetric key exchange enabler isrequired. One method of accomplishing this is to create, during keypairgeneration, a random number (RN) and with it generate a DH “public”(base^(RN) mod P) Key Negotiation Parameter (KNP). This parameter wouldbe signed with the certificate and KNP. During message creation, the DHfunction would be accomplished yielding a Unique Bit Pool (UBP) betweenthe two individuals. Mathematically, this is equal to(base)^((RN1)(RN2)) mod P. Creating a “session” key could beaccomplished by using the UBP as a base for another exponentiationprocess UBP^((Key ID)) mod P, where the Key ID is a value (such as adate/time stamp) that can be passed in the clear as part of the messageheader. The result yields a Session Key Pool (SKP) that a session keycan be derived from. The SKP is secure even though the Key ID was passedin the clear because the UPB becomes the “secret” value of the process.

Public Key Distribution

Gaining real-time access to public keys (or KNPs) without a prioricommunication with the recipient has been a problem in otherwise securecommunication systems. The inventive system could maintain a worldwidedatabase of registrant's public keys (and/or KNPs) and, during thegeneration or receipt of a message, download the required information.This download process need only happen once. Once downloaded, theinformation may be stored on the individual's local PC and is valid (andused) unless there is change in the information or the information“expires.” Replacement of changed and/or expired information can behandled automatically by the system.

Telephone Number Authentication

If private keys are generated and signed by a central system using adatabase (on-line key generation as described earlier), one ispreferably able to distribute the private key to the correct party andonly to the correct party. If private keys are generated by individualcommunicating systems (off-line key generation as described earlier),those private keys are preferably digitally signed by the central systemand they are put into the database 124 only if they are indeed generatedby the correct party. Digital certificates may be used to contain andauthenticate the keys.

These operations may be performed when the correct party has called thecentral system using dial-up communications technology. The centralsystem could then use ANI (automatic number identification) and/orCaller-ID to ascertain the calling number and make sure it matches thetelephone number embedded in the certificate's serial number. Note thatthe use of the telephone number in the signed part of the certificatemakes the ANI or Caller-ID approach especially applicable toauthentication in cases where the telephone number is critical in usingthe present invention.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides systems, devices, signals, and methodsfor routing messages. Message originators can use one or more simplein-the-phonebook telecommunications numbers, unlisted numbers, mobilenumbers, toll-free numbers, 900 numbers, or the like as addressingindexes in place of conventional addresses such as those in the formusername@domain. For instance, a message could be addressed to 1234567,or 123-4567, or 123-456-7890, or +011-1-123-4567, or it might beaddressed to @1234567.com. Thus addressed, email can be delivered asconventional email text, as email text generated through voicerecognition, as synthesized or live speech which reads the email to alive recipient or a voice mailbox, and/or as a fax or pager messagewhich contains the email text. A combination of novel email addresses,as in the cc or bcc fields or in other multiple recipient messages couldbe used. A combination of novel email addresses and/or conventionalemail addresses can also be used.

Multiple deliveries may also be coordinated or staggered in variousways. For instance, use may be made of both the message originator'stelephone number and of the message recipient's telephone number. Onesuch use would provide the message originator with a confirmation afterthe message had been delivered and/or after it had been both deliveredand opened. The confirmation could be addressed using the originalmessage originator's telecommunications number, and the confirmationcould be delivered as email, voicemail, live speech, pager feed, and/orfax, as discussed above. Another type of multiple delivery wouldinitially try to deliver the original message only by email and wouldtry additional delivery modes (voicemail, fax, pager, wireless, etc.)only if the original email was unopened after a specified period of timehad passed or other criteria have been met.

As another example, suppose that a message originator does not know theemail address for a desired message recipient but is confident that therecipient will check for new email, and suppose further that the messageoriginator does not necessarily have an email account. The messageoriginator could dial a toll-free or other special messaging servicenumber, speak the message into a system or process, provide therecipient's telephone number, and be confident that the message would bedelivered. The invention would use the recipient's telephone number toobtain a conventional email address for ultimate delivery, and wouldthen forward the message to the recipient as email (either astranscribed email text or as a .wav file or other recorded attachment orother messaging means discussed herein).

In this way, email and other messages may be sent to someone whose phonenumber is known, even if their email address is unknown. Indeed, if theyhave voice mail through an answering machine or a voicemail service,email can be sent to them for voice delivery even if they have no emailaddress. This removes the burden of maintaining both an email addressand a telephone number (and in some embodiments, a fax number and/or amobile number) for each person in one's contact list. The telephonenumber alone will suffice. Moreover, telephone numbers are widelypublished and easily obtained, and telephone directories are bothfamiliar and generally well-maintained.

With respect to email, it will be appreciated that in the Internetcommunity, sending email to an individual without a priori knowledge oftheir email address is a substantial deterrent to electroniccommunications. The invention provides a solution to this problem. Whena person wishes to send an email but doesn't know the “electronic”address of a recipient, the recipient's telephone number is entered intothe “To” field of the email message. Upon recognizing a telephone numberin the “To” field, the browser and/or email program (e.g. Netscape, AOL,or Microsoft's Internet Explorer) automatically, and by default,connects to inventive online directory (unless a browser option is setto automatically send the email via the inventive system). Uponconnection, the sender can obtain an “electronic” address for therecipient (this may done through an “alias” table), and download therecipient's public key certificate thereby enabling relatively securecommunications. If an “electronic” address for the recipient is notavailable, the message is sent to the recipient via the inventive system(e.g., 123.456.7890@provider.net). The system will deliver the messagevia notification and/or media translation, depending on the recipient'spreferences specified within the database.

With respect to electronic commerce (“e-commerce”), the inventive systemcan provide a link, through an online directory, between buyers andsellers. This can be accomplished in a manner similar to the e-mailscenario. When a company's website address is unknown to a buyer, thebuyer enters the company's telephone number into the browser's “site”field. Upon recognizing a telephone number in the “site” field, thebrowser (e.g. Netscape, AOL, or Microsoft's Internet Explorer)automatically, and by default, connects to the invention's onlinedirectory. Upon connection, the buyer can obtain a “website” deliveraddress/link for the seller (this may be done through an “alias” table),and download the seller's public key certificate thereby enabling moresecure transactions. If a “website” address for the seller is notavailable, a message is sent to the seller via the system stating thatthe buyer requests contact information and provides return addressingfor the buyer. The system will deliver the message via notificationand/or media translation depending on the seller's configurationspecified within the database.

As used herein, terms such as “a” and “the” and item designations suchas “telecommunications number” are generally inclusive of one or more ofthe indicated item. In particular, in the claims a reference to an itemmeans at least one such item is required, unless clearly indicatedotherwise to one of skill in the art.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom its essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to beconsidered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive.Headings are for convenience only. The claims are part of thespecification which describes the invention. The scope of the inventionis indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription. All changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

1. A method for routing a message, comprising the steps of: receiving anemail message which includes at least a destination address and mayinclude message content, the destination address including atelecommunications number in place of at least a conventional domainname, wherein the destination address domain name is free of periods;attempting to obtain a delivery addressing index which corresponds tothe telecommunications number in the destination address; selecting atleast one delivery mode; and if message content is present and adelivery addressing index is obtained, advancing the email messagecontent for delivery using at least one selected delivery mode and thedelivery addressing index, wherein the telecommunications number issubject to call forwarding to a second telecommunications number, andthe advancing step comprises delivering the email message content to arecipient at the second telecommunications number.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the addressing index includes an email address.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the addressing index includes a web siteaddress.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of selecting adelivery mode is performed at the direction of a message sender.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the step of selecting a delivery mode isperformed at the direction of a message recipient.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the telecommunications number used as the destinationaddress is a publicly listed number.
 7. The method of claim 6, whereinthe publicly listed number is obtained through directory assistance. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein the telecommunications number used as thedestination address is an unlisted number.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the telecommunications number used as the destination addressincludes a toll-free number.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein thetelecommunications number used as the destination address includes a 900toll number.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving stepreceives an email message containing an origin address, the originaddress including an origin telecommunications number.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising the step of responding to the email messageusing the origin address as the new destination address whose domainname is free of periods.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the origintelecommunications number is used in place of a conventionalalphanumeric origin address domain name.
 14. The method of claim 1,wherein the receiving step receives an email message whose destinationaddress contains no alphabetic domain name.
 15. The method of claim 1,wherein the receiving step receives an email message whose destinationaddress contains the telecommunications number as the domain name. 16.The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving step receives an emailmessage whose destination telecommunications number is a pre-existingvoice line number identifying a telephone number which can also be usedfor live voice communications.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein thereceiving step receives an email message whose destinationtelecommunications number is a pre-existing voice line numberidentifying a telephone number which can also be used for voicemailcommunications.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving stepreceives an email message whose destination telecommunications number isa pre-existing fax line number identifying a fax number which can alsobe used for fax-to-fax communications.
 19. The method of claim 1,wherein the receiving step receives an email message whose destinationtelecommunications number is a pre-existing internet connection linenumber identifying a internet connection number which can also be usedfor internet access.
 20. The method of claim 1, wherein the receivingstep receives an email message whose message content is located at leastin part in text in a subject field.
 21. The method of claim 1, whereinthe receiving step receives an email message whose message content islocated at least in part in text in a message field.
 22. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the receiving step receives an email message whosemessage content is located at least in part in text in an attached file.23. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving step receives an emailmessage whose message content is formatted according to MultipurposeInternet Mail Extensions format.
 24. The method of claim 1, wherein theattempting step attempts to obtain a delivery email address thatincludes an alphanumeric user name and an alphanumeric domain name. 25.The method of claim 1, wherein the attempting step attempts to obtain adelivery email address that includes attribute-value pairs.
 26. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the attempting step attempts to obtain adelivery addressing index using a database maintained on a clientmachine on which the email message was composed.
 27. The method of claim1, wherein the attempting step uses the telecommunications number as anindex into a database of public keys to obtain a public keycorresponding to the telecommunications number.
 28. The method of claim1, wherein the attempting step attempts to obtain a delivery addressingindex using a database maintained on an email server machine.
 29. Themethod of claim 28, wherein the email server machine utilizes SimpleMail Transfer Protocol.
 30. The method of claim 1, wherein theattempting step attempts to obtain a delivery addressing index using adatabase maintained on an email gateway which separates a network fromthe Internet, and the email message was composed on a machine in thenetwork.
 31. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting step selectsvoice delivery as a delivery mode.
 32. The method of claim 1, whereinthe advancing step uses a wireless communications link.
 33. The methodof claim 1, wherein the attempting step succeeds in obtaining a deliveryemail address as the addressing index and the selecting step selectsemail text delivery as a delivery mode.
 34. The method of claim 33,wherein the selecting step also selects voice delivery as a deliverymode and the advancing step comprises synthesizing speech from text inthe email message content and then delivering the synthesized speech toa recipient at the telecommunications number.
 35. The method of claim34, wherein the delivering step delivers the synthesized speech to avoicemail box recipient.
 36. The method of claim 34, wherein thedelivering step delivers the synthesized speech to a live recipient. 37.The method of claim 33, wherein the selecting step also selects faxdelivery as a delivery mode and the advancing step comprises generatinga fax containing the email message content and then delivering the faxto a fax machine at the telecommunications number.
 38. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the attempting step fails to obtain an email address,the selecting step selects voice delivery as a delivery mode, and theadvancing step comprises synthesizing speech from text in the emailmessage content and then delivering the synthesized speech to arecipient at the telecommunications number.
 39. The method of claim 38,wherein the delivering step delivers the synthesized speech to avoicemail box recipient.
 40. The method of claim 38, wherein thedelivering step delivers the synthesized speech to a live recipient. 41.The method of claim 1, wherein the attempting step fails to obtain adelivery email address, the selecting step selects fax delivery as adelivery mode, and the advancing step comprises generating a faxcontaining the email message content and then delivering the fax to afax machine recipient at the telecommunications number.
 42. The methodof claim 1, wherein the telecommunications number identifies a pager,and the advancing step comprises delivering the email message content tothe pager.
 43. A method for routing a message, comprising the steps of:receiving an email message which includes at least a destination addressand may include message content, the destination address including atelecommunications number in place of at least a conventional domainname, wherein the destination address domain name is free of periods;attempting to obtain a delivery addressing index which corresponds tothe telecommunications number in the destination address; selecting atleast one delivery mode; and if message content is present and adelivery addressing index is obtained advancing the email messagecontent for delivery using at least one selected delivery mode and thedelivery addressing index, wherein the telecommunications number issubject to call forwarding to a second telecommunications number, theattempting step attempts to obtain a delivery email address using adatabase which is accessed using the second telecommunications numberand which uses the telecommunications number as a pointer to thedelivery email address within the database, and the advancing stepcomprises delivering the email message content to a recipient reachedusing the email address.
 44. A system for routing messages comprising:an email receiver which receives an email message that includes at leasta destination address and message content, the destination addressincluding a telecommunications number in place of at least a domainname, wherein the destination address domain name is free of periods; anaddress matcher which attempts to obtain a delivery email address thatcorresponds to the telecommunications number in the destination address;a mode selector that selects at least one delivery mode; and a delivererthat advances the email message content for delivery using at least oneselected delivery mode, wherein more than one entity has a deliveryemail address that corresponds to the telecommunications number in thedestination address and the address matcher attempts to obtain adelivery email address for an entity that is geographically nearest anoriginator of the email message.